Temple Dancer

In a spiritual thriller that connects the lives of two presumably disconnected women, Temple Dancer burrows deep into the mirroring stories of both Wendy Rabin and Saraswati as they explore the divine connection. Author Amy Weintraub takes readers on a journey through the yoga philosophy behind the two tragic tales and the enigma that entwines the lives of two unlikely souls.

Set in India in 1997, and later at an ashram in Buckingham, Virginia in 2016, Temple Dancer begins when Wendy takes a spiritual pilgrimage to India following a painful divorce. On a crowded train in the midst of Wendy's excursion, she meets Saraswati, an enigmatic older woman who claims to have been a temple dancer. The mysterious encounter between the two leaves Wendy with Saraswati's diary and a request that she honor the profaned culture by sharing her story.

Twenty years later, after having lost the diary's translation, its inexplicable reappearance forces Wendy to face her difficult past. Her reading and meditation trigger flashbacks of her painful mistakes in the trance of love.

In a spiritual thriller that intertwines the lives of two seemingly disparate women, Temple Dancer burrows deep into the mirroring stories of both Wendy, an artist in contemporary New England and Saraswati, an Indian temple dancer during the Raj, as they explore the sacred sexuality that is their pathway to the divine. Author Amy Weintraub takes readers on a journey through the yoga philosophy behind the two tragic tales and the enigma that entwines the lives of two unlikely souls.

Set in India in 1997, in 1947, and later at an ashram in Buckingham, Virginia in 2016, Temple Dancer begins when Wendy takes a spiritual pilgrimage to India following her painful divorce. On a crowded train in the midst of Wendy's excursion, she meets Saraswati, an enigmatic older woman who claims to have been a temple dancer. The mysterious encounter between the two leaves Wendy with Saraswati's diary and a request that she honor the profaned culture by sharing her story.

Twenty years later, after having lost the diary's translation, its inexplicable reappearance forces Wendy to face her difficult past. Her reading and meditation trigger flashbacks of her painful mistakes in the trance of love.

On a crowded train in southern India, a mysterious encounter between two women-one an older elegant Indian, the other a young American artist-leads to the exchange of a dusty red book, and an appeal: You must show the world how we danced with God Years later, on reading the lost diary, Wendy is transported on an unforgettable journey into the ancient and erotic world of the revered devadasi, a world of dance and devotion, music and mysticism, restraint and release, shame and disgrace. The diary opens a connection across time and space between two parallel lives that include affairs of the spirit and the flesh manifest through sacred practices, through the making of art, the making of love, and most of all through love itself.

Author Amy Weintraub takes readers on a richly atmospheric journey deep into the history and magic of female sacred sexuality and spiritual transcendence. The tragic yet triumphant stories of both women are enriched by the foundations of yoga philosophy and the divine enigma that entwines the lives of two unlikely souls.

"Gorgeous and ambitious Temple Dancer is an unforgettable novel about a woman's search for peace--and another's desire for justice, fleshed out with rich psychological descriptions that evoke the very different cultures they live in." Foreword Reviews

On a crowded train in southern India, a mysterious encounter between two women-one an older elegant Indian, the other a young American artist-leads to the exchange of a dusty red book, and an appeal: You must show the world how we danced with God Years later, on reading the lost diary, Wendy is transported on an unforgettable journey into the ancient and erotic world of the revered devadasi, a world of dance and devotion, music and mysticism, restraint and release, shame and disgrace. The diary opens a connection across time and space between two parallel lives that include affairs of the spirit and the flesh manifest through sacred practices, through the making of art, the making of love, and most of all through love itself.

Author Amy Weintraub takes readers on a richly atmospheric journey deep into the history and magic of female sacred sexuality and spiritual transcendence. The tragic yet triumphant stories of both women are enriched by vibrant yoga philosophy and the divine enigma that entwines the lives of two unlikely souls.